NEI notes progress in industry's post-Fukushima safety effortsThe U.S. nuclear industry has made progress in enhancing reactor security and safety nearly two years after the Fukushima Daiichi incident in Japan, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute. "This past year has been extremely busy," said Joe Pollock, NEI's vice president for nuclear operations. "As you are aware, the industry has been working hard with the NRC in developing guidance to implement some of the requirements from the NRC, and they have been working on plans for the implementation of the orders that have been issued by NRC and they have been conducting inspections," Pollock said. SNL Financial (free content)
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Energy Dept. seeks options for waste issues at Wash. siteThe Department of Energy is seeking to transfer about 3 million gallons of radioactive waste from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., as officials work to address leaking tanks at Hanford. "This alternative, if selected for implementation in a record of decision, could enable the Department to reduce potential health and environmental risk in Washington state," said Dave Huizenga, head of the department's Environmental Management program. San Diego Union-Tribune/The Associated Press
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Management & Leadership

Citi CEO aims at better discipline and performanceCitigroup CEO Michael Corbat is proposing more rigorous performance testing of executives, including scorecards that will rate managers in five categories. Regulators and politicians have charged that the bank is so large that it's nearly unmanageable, so Corbat's moves are aimed at improving accountability. The Wall Street Journal
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Business tips from an octopus' tentacleSome octopuses change color to blend in with their surroundings, but they do so by delegating decisions about coloration to individual skin cells, writes Rafe Sagarin. Business leaders, too, can often achieve better results by leaving key decisions to individual workers. "[D]ecentralized organization yields faster, cheaper, and more effective solutions to complex problems," Sagarin writes. Harvard Business Review online/HBR Blog Network
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Australia to begin uranium export talks with India this monthAustralian and Indian officials this month will begin talks on exporting Australian uranium to India. "We know how to negotiate these agreements because we have done it in the past and we have done it on the basis that Australian uranium is only used for peaceful purposes; that the International Atomic Energy Agency is involved in oversight, and that the nation that we sell uranium to has an appropriate protocol with the IAEA," said Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard. The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
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Hitachi weighs in on U.K. reactor-development talksDiscussions between Electricite de France and the U.K. government over reactor-development incentives are at a "critical stage" and are "very challenging," EDF said. The result of the discussions could also affect Hitachi's nuclear energy plans in the U.K., the Japanese company said. Horizon, the U.K. nuclear venture acquired by Hitachi last fall, "is proceeding with its plans to build nuclear power plants, but Hitachi is a long way from final investment decisions," Hitachi said. The Telegraph (London) (tiered subscription model)
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SmartQuote

Scientific progress makes moral progress a necessity; for if man's power is increased, the checks that restrain him from abusing it must be strengthened."